Made with Love is an annual celebration of the craft cocktails industry! Cheer on your favourite Calgary barchefs in the 2019 Regional Finals.
What is Made with Love?
Made with Love is an international cocktail event for cocktail lovers around the world. This annual competition was founded in 2009 in Montreal and quickly spread across Canada. While it is still in the early stages of world wide development, there are also competitions held throughout Spain.
How Does Made with Love Work?
The competition is fully immersive, meaning that cocktail lovers are free to roam around and interact with the competitors. Each of the 18 competitors have a unique spirit that they must use in their cocktail creation. These creations will be judged by an small panel of judges, which consists of locally revered barkeeps from various establishments.
How Do Bartenders Qualify for Regionals?
The Made with Love Qualifiers were held at the King Eddy on May 6, 2019. There, the best barchefs from Calgary were selected for a chance to compete in the Regional Finals, held on June 24. Here are the 2019 Calgary Regional Finalists:
- Shelby Goodwin – Mister Chen’s Asian Brasserie
- Reece Southern – Proof YYC
- Gurjeet Singh Khaira – Guru Restaurant , Fine Indian Cuisine
- Jesse Kourmouzis – Where The Buffalo Roam Saloon
- Andrew Yanwai Fung – Yellow Door Bistro
- Tj Cleveland – Independent
- Kaitlyn Alonday – Klein & Harris
- Megan Macdonald – Donna Mac
- Nick Park – The Derrick Gin Mill & Kitchen
- Danielle Joy Dapula – YAKIMA Social Kitchen + Bar
- Cody Gosss – Anju Restaurant & Lounge
- Mac Ouellette – King Eddy YYC
- Bryden Bergey – Native Tongues Taqueria
- Ian Storcer – Independent
- Maya Bartha – Yardarm yyc
- John Fairholm – Confluence Distilling
- Lacey Roberts – ONE18 EMPIRE
- Greg Lexiphanic – Bridgette Bar
Winning Made with Love
During the competition, the judges roam the floor and try all the cocktails just like the guests do. Two winners will be chosen, one from each category; Public’s Choice and Judges’ Choice, will represent Calgary at the National Finals taking place in Spring 2020.
EDIT: The 2019 Calgary Regional Winners were John Fairholm (People’s choice) and Ian Storcer (Judges Choice).
The Made with Love team also host the TRIBUTE a craft spirits cocktail festival which highlights local distillers from Western Canada.
